Hip Hop ain't dead; it's just missing Andre 3000

All of your favorite hip-hop songs from the south have been graced with Andre 3000. One listen to songs like the newly released “Throw Some D’s (rmx)” (check out http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.1243/title.rich-boy-f-andre-3000-lil-flip-jim-jones-murphy-lee-the-game-throw-some-ds-rmx ) let us all know that Andre 3000 still has arguably the best combination of flow and lyricism in hip hop. On the classic Love Below/Speaker Box album Andre 3000 still hit with classic after classic song, but it missed that raw atliens type lyricism and style that so many of us (myself included) wanted. Fast forward a year or two to their Idlewild cd and with one listen to “Hollywood Divorce” (check out http://www.nobodysmiling.com/hiphop/play-audio.php?rid=86535&path=Outkast_HollywoodDivorce ) you start getting flashbacks to the Andre of old.

Andre ain’t a conscience rapper, he ain’t a gangsta rapper, but he is a rappers rapper because he is REAL. REAL don’t have to do with sellin’ grams, it don’t have to be about bangin’ “bitches” or “hoes” (I use this language cause that’s what these ignorant brothas still use), it don’t have to be asocial and “hard”. With Andre nothing is forced, and everything is about the music and less about the bull. Hip-Hop needs someone who can say, “ I like this beat here and the way it make the party hype, but at the same time let me flip it and add some knowledge to it”. A song like “walk it out” (check out http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Walk+it+Out+%28rmx%29%22+%2B+Lyrics ) is the perfect example of adding substance in a cleaver way to a harmless and fun song. Andre is the only rapper that can talk about the same people probably dancing to that song by telling them to “take that T two sizes down” and get away with it.

Hip hop doesn’t need the next Jay-z or Nas. Hip Hop needs some creativity and originality that can resonate with those looking for a way to pay their light bill, with those in corner offices, and with those who simply need to get away for a short time . In a hip hop world where originality is something of a commodity Andre is a breath of fresh air. Hip Hop ain’t dead, it’s just missing the likes of Andre 3000. I hope that the latest appearances by Andre 3000 stand for something more to come. Word on the street is that he is writing for a new album, I can only hope that this is true.